I'm so glad that this thread was started. I don't really know if us Piston fans really realize just how good McDyess makes our team in this role. For reasonable purposes he is the 5th option, yet he can go out and get you 15pts/9rebs and play very good defense, and has really started to make alot of the hustle plays. When Antonio McDyess becomes the starter the opposition pays the least amount of attention to, WHOA BABY!!!!

I do believe, RIGHT NOW TODAY, this starting five is better with Dyess in it, then it would be with Ben in it. Keep in mind I'm adjusting for coaching changes, and Stern rule changes. If you look at the things that Ben did for us, Dyess and Max are pretty much giving us about 85% of Ben-Ball, yet they give us about 200% more on the offensive end.

Given the fact that we are 21-7 and have been blowing teams out lately, mainly in the 3rd quarter with the startes. Then yes I would say the McDyess in the starting unit experiment is working out better than expected.

Still need to tweak that bench though. Get Stucky in there with Afflalo as our backup guards. Give this Wally guy a look at backup SF, who knows if he will be the one to hit that crucial shot in a playoff game. See what Amir has.

Always look for ways to improve should be the theme of this season. Keep things fresh going into the post-season.

Always look for ways to improve should be the theme of this season. Keep things fresh going into the post-season.

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Flip actually said something that made me smile the other night. He was asked is it difficult to harp on team improvement when the team is playing so well. Flips response was that it's easier to coach mistakes now, when the team is playing so well, the mistakes tend to get maginified and exposed quickly.

I'll admit that I was wrong. I didn't like the idea of Dice starting because I felt that it would weaken (in Flip's eyes) a bench that was already underutilized. But so far, so good - as long as Flip keeps the bench involved.

I don't think it's a matter of Dyess starting, IMO. He could be on the bench and still play well. In fact, he did play well off the bench the last couple of seasons, at times better than Ben.

The thing is, he has now taken up more of the slack on the rebounding, which we sorely need him to do. He's also playing great defense and hitting his outside shots, and at times he's shown he can still do some damage inside.

He's just playing well right now.

He's not the Dyess of the dunking days. This is a more refined Mcdyess, a veteran who is getting the job done.

I'm impressed by his play as well. Didn't expect him to put up numbers like that while managing to remain healthy. Still, he should play about 5 minutes less, no one wants him to be exhausted come playoff time.
He simply seems to play better with the starters on the floor than having the pressure with the 2nd unit. I hope he'll be able to do what it takes to win that freakin' ring since he plays a bigger role now.

The thing is, he has now taken up more of the slack on the rebounding, which we sorely need him to do. He's also playing great defense and hitting his outside shots, and at times he's shown he can still do some damage inside.

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He's getting more rebounds only because he's playing more minutes--his per 40 min stats on rebounds have been in the 10-11 range since he's been in Detroit, and it's 10.7 so far this season. But he's playing 31 minutes per game so far this season, after being in the 21-23 range the previous three.

What's definitely different so far this year is that he's gotten off to a great start with his shot, 55% from the floor. He shot 51-53% overall in the previous 3 seasons, but he would start the season slow before getting better as it went on--he shot under 40% from the floor in November in each of the past two seasons, but he was at 59% in the first month this season! Although the rebounding numbers were solid for him from the very beginning of last season.

As linwood says, Dice does seem less foul prone so far this year, which is a very welcome development. He did seem particularly luckless and/or careless about picking up bad fouls last year. And he also seems to have cut back a lot on dropping passes or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time--he used to drive Roscoe nuts with that, but it seems to me that he's been a lot more solid in those areas, maybe just as an adjustment to playing most of his minutes with the starters.

I guess the once concern is whether he can keep it up at this number of minutes, like others have already said, although the complete lack of the slow start from him in the early months that we were used to in the past couple of seasons might indicate that he's in better shape for the long haul this year than he has been before.

I guess the once concern is whether he can keep it up at this number of minutes, like others have already said, although the complete lack of the slow start from him in the early months that we were used to in the past couple of seasons might indicate that he's in better shape for the long haul this year than he has been before.

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There were a number of stories mentioning that Dyess did in fact come to camp this year in better shape because he was told beforehand that he would be a starter.

Believe it or not, based on his numbers and the success of his team, Dyess is having one of the best years of his career. Statisically, Dyess is producing almost to the level of when he was a 20 and 10 guy with Denver. And in terms of team success, this Pistons team is light years ahead of Dyess' Nuggets teams.

Believe it or not, based on his numbers and the success of his team, Dyess is having one of the best years of his career. Statisically, Dyess is producing almost to the level of when he was a 20 and 10 guy with Denver. And in terms of team success, this Pistons team is light years ahead of Dyess' Nuggets teams.

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Saw an interview with Dyce a few games back. They said that Sheed was razzing him about being back in the form he was in when in Denver.

I do not remember him in Denver before the injuries. Everyone says he was a high flying dunking machine.

The biggest surprise to me is how much better Dyess is guarding guys like Shaq and Howard this year.

The best thing Dyess could do is quit shooting a lot of outside jumpers. Instead, he should work from the post, and even then, avoid taking fade -a -ways as much as possible. Dyess may not be as successful at scoring points like this, but he will help the team more. He will get more rebounds. He will draw more fouls. He will help more to open up the perimeter for Billups and Rip, who are perfectly capable of taking and making outside shots. Indeed, they can make 3's instead of Dyess' 2's. I believe Dyess is underestimating his ability to play as a post up player. Sure he lost a lot from the knee surgeries, but he still has a lot of what it takes to be an effective inside scorer.

I do not like Dyess starting. Flip tends to play his starters too many minutes. I believe it is risky to substantially increase a players minutes, especially one as old as Dyess. There is bound to be something in his body somewhere that won't hold up to the additional minutes. It could work out though if Flip simply added a 4th big to the regular rotation, keeping Dyess down to just 26 minutes per game.

There is also the matter of starting your best players. I believe JMAX is a better player than Dyess. The argument that JMAX is foul prone is a poor one. Dyess was foul prone, but he simply learned to let plays go to keep himself in the game. JMAX can do the same. Meanwhile, I doubt that JMAX would keep a starting job over Amir Johnson once we start giving Amir minutes.

In sum, I think Dyess is a very valuable part of a 4 man rotation for this years upcoming playoffs, but not necessarily as a starter. I see his biggest value as a defender against the likes of Shaq and Howard.

It's amazing how many of those long fade aways he actually makes. The guy has great touch.

I also agree that he should work in the low post more. His moves are so textbook that he can get some really easy bunnies and draw fouls too.

On the other hand, he's more likely to get injured and his defender will be closer to the hoop for rebounding and help D.

There are a lot of what have you's and so forth.

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If they pack it in too tight, sure, then you use the outside jumper to draw them out. Playing Dyess less minutes will also reduce risk of injury. But remember this, if Dyess draws some fouls, the other team becomes less likely to foul due to foul trouble, making it easier, and safer, for the next guy to come into the lane.

Keeping this to Dyess, he does play inside quite a bit, but tends to go to the fade -a - way where there is no chance of drawing the foul. He can certainly do less fades and more strong moves to the basket.